


Notes on alien biology and technology

by Mislagnissa



Category: Animorphs (TV), Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Technology, Diary/Journal, Documentation, Headcanon, Research, Speculation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2018-10-08 23:58:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10399101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mislagnissa/pseuds/Mislagnissa
Summary: Being a series of extracts from the notes of an amateur xenobiologist





	1. Andalite I

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [An Unlikely Species](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3202610) by [GuesssWho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuesssWho/pseuds/GuesssWho). 
  * Inspired by [The Yeerk and the Gedd: A Natural History](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/40783) by Nate The Ape. 
  * Inspired by [The All Systems University Library](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/406224) by Gene Roddenberry. 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Species: Centaurus sapiens, "Andalite"  
> Subject: physical characteristics, reproductive method

**Body plan**

The hexapedal megafauna of Andal derive from organisms analogous to terrestrial siphonophores. While this clade is analogous to vertebrate tetrapods, there are distinct morphological differences due to their different ancestry.

The body plan of Andal megafauna is remarkably convergent with terrestrial megafauna. They exhibit bilateral symmetry and a similar arrangement of limbs and organs. The brain is located within a skull at the front of the body, which possesses eyes, ears and nostrils responsible for perceiving their environment.

**Feeding limbs**

The limbs derive from polyps and thus serve a dual function: locomotion and digestion. Where terrestrial megafauna possess one mouth on their head, Andal megafauna possess one mouth on each foot. They breathe and scent through orifices on the head, but their trachea and esophagus are not linked.

In Andalites, the first pair of limbs are fine manipulators and the corresponding mouths and esophagi are vestigial. Fossil evidence suggests their recent (~20 mya) ancestors were similar to terrestrial kangaroos, not ungulates as is commonly supposed.

**Four eyes**

Many Andal megafauna possess two pairs of eyes, though typically these eyes are only about half as efficient as the terrestrial analogue. Andalites possess a pair of forward facing eyes, suggesting a predatory life style, and a pair of stalk eyes, suggesting that their ancestors were preyed upon by predators that attacked from multiple angles. Fossil evidence suggests the most likely candidate were a variety of flying predators analogous to the “terror birds” of Earth’s past, which were likely hunted to extinction by the Andalites they once preyed upon.

**Telepathy**

The vast majority of Andal megafauna display at least a limited degree of telepathy, or what andalites call “thought-speech.” It is unclear what drove the evolution of this unusual form of communication (deliberate engineering is assumed, since it works across species and language boundaries), but its silence and fine direction control provide a massive advantage over pheromone- or sound-based communication. Thought-speech is speculated to have pressured the relative ubiquity of herd and pack life styles on Andal.

**Diet**

Andalites, contrary to popular belief, are not grazers. They are opportunistic and will eat anything within reach, including vegetation, fruit, carrion and any small animals they can catch. Most of their energy, like humans, comes from carbohydrates and lipids.

Because their senses of taste and smell are not linked as in terrestrial tetrapods, their sense of taste is markedly different. In human morph, they will attempt to consume inedible substances such as garbage.

**Tail blade**

Their tail blade, or in Andalese “shorm,” is a multipurpose organ: it serves as weapon, genital sheath and egg tooth. Observations of Andalites indicate the shorm is much larger in males than females, shorm sparring displays clear sensuality, and severing the tail is socially analogous to the ancient human practice of scalping.

**Reproduction**

Reproduction, and the psychology thereof, is one of the key ways that Andalites differ from humans. The act of copulation is simple and familiar: the male and female touch the ends of their tails together, the male’s penis emerges from an aperture at the base of his shorm, penetrates a vaginal orifice at the base of her shorm, and expels seminal fluid containing his sperm.

**Gestation**

Gestation is completely different from what humans are familiar with. The andalite mother, rather than producing an egg or placenta, uses an ovipositor to inject the zygote within a species of tree-like organism native to Andal. These trees, or in Andalese “therant,” will gestate the andalite offspring in a manner not unlike the terrestrial gall wasp. When it is ready to be born, the infant with use its shorm to cut its way free of its tree womb in a manner not unlike the egg tooth found in terrestrial birds.

**Therant trees**

The therants themselves are not harmed by gestation. They exist in symbiosis with the andalites, benefiting from the protection and cultivation provided by a superior intelligence. Therants are biologically similar to and distinct from terrestrial algae, plants and fungi: they derive nourishment through photosynthesis and have simple plant-like tissues, but they grow and reproduce like fungal mycelium. Their life cycle is particularly unique: therants produce motile, animal-like larvae that give rise to new therants. The adult therant retains a vestige of their larval stage’s primitive brain, allowing them to communicate with andalites in an extremely simple form of thought-speech.

Because their reproduction places so little strain on the andalites themselves yet still fraught with difficulty, it has become the centerpoint of their religion. An andalite’s therant host is considered a spiritual guide, or in Andalese “garibah.” It is common practice for cuttings of one’s garibah to serve as personal altars and prayed to for advice and assistance.


	2. Z-space I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Species: Zero-space  
> Subject: practical applications, conjecture

Zero-space (Z-space for short, also known as subspace or hyperspace) is the phenomenon that makes superluminal communication, superluminal travel, morphing and thought-speak possible. It is littered with spacetime constructs presumably built by an as yet unknown but no doubt highly advanced civilization. Galactic civilization calls these mythical builders the Elllimist. (Where did this name originate from? Nobody knows!)

**Z-Spacetime**

Time and distance in Z-space are not fixed in relative to our own spacetime. By entering and exiting Z-space, spacecraft may cross vast gulfs of space almost instantly. Hypothetically it is possible to travel through time this way, but there are no records of such incidents. (Temporal paradoxes?)

**Free energy?**

Z-space provides a virtually limitless supply of mass and energy that may be harvest and converted into useful materials. An equivalent amount of energy must be expended, so this seemingly useful property is effectively worthless. (Thank goodness the Yeerks couldn't manufacture a fleet this way!)

**Morphing/Escafil device**

Morphing is among the most advanced technology in the known universe. It seemingly violates the normal constraints on producing matter from Z-space. (Yet, the Andalites who invented the technology do not use it to mass produce armadas. How is this discrepancy explained?)

Addendum: It turns out that the Escafil device is not solely of Andalite manufacture: they do not fully understand its properties nor how to modify it for other applications. (Was it reverse engineered from Ellimist technology? Why? By who? Records classified?)

**Telepathy (and babelfish!)**

Thought-speak is another technology that relies on existing Z-space constructs. It allows communication by thought alone. Many species were modified or modified themselves to communicate through thought-speak. (Morphing technology automatically imparts it to users who did not previously possess the capability. Human morphs seem to have difficulty producing thought-speak and require a training period. Why?)

Translator implants are based on the principles of thought-speak, but reversed: the implants translate languages from other mediums into a form understandable to the user.

This process is imperfect because it relies on being able to successfully translate raw mental processes between species, which is not always the case—particularly for those rare species that weaponize telepathy and/or shield their thoughts from intrusion. For certain highly unusual species it does not function at all. (Will need to find examples for next draft. Do Shaggai count?)

**Addendum: Andalite language? Andalese?**

Andalites spoke verbally at one point in time, as evidenced by their use of untranslatable words and the structure of their names. Their vestigial vocal apparatus is structured completely different from a human's, so it not clear why the remnants of their language would be pronounceable by humans. It is possible that this is simply an artifact of the speech processing centers of the human brain attempting to make sense of a purely semantic language. (Will need to confirm if Andalite translator chips translate human pronunciation back into Andalese correctly.)


	3. Yeerk I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Species: Plasmodium sapiens, "Yeerk"  
> Subject: physical characteristics, reproductive method

**Anatomy**

Yeerk physiology is unique, resembling terrestrial cnidarians, amoebas and fungi; currently they are contentiously classified as protists (i.e. anything that isn’t easily classifiable as an animal, plant or fungus).

Yeerks are colonial organisms: every individual consists of numerous amoeboid cells that have amalgamated into a slug-like pseudoplasmodium. The pseudoplasmodium has developed novel survival strategies: it assembles tiny biomagnets as anchors for a series of hyphae. These hyphae form a mycelium that functions as a neural network: the entire organism is effectively a brain.

The biomagnets serve an additional purpose: echolocation. Through electrical impulses, the mycelium causes the biomagnets to vibrate, producing a series of chirps, clicks and whistles used to navigate and communicate.

The exterior of the yeerk is covered in palps that detect vibrations, touch and taste. These palps are particularly sensitive to their own communication and the mucus membranes of host organisms. More extraordinary, these palps are electrically conductive and play a key role in allowing a yeerk to communicate with the nervous tissue of hosts.

**Parasitism**

Yeerks are unique parasitic organisms that enter the brain cavities of hosts and hijack their neural impulses by temporary fusing their nervous systems. This allows the intruding yeerk, or controller, to not only control their host’s motor functions but also to read their memories. The experience is frequently compared to rape and even claimed to be worse.

While yeerks are euphemistically referred to as entering hosts through the ear canal, this isn’t physically possible. At least in humans, the quickest way for a yeerk to reach the brain is to through the eye socket or, less quickly, the nostril.

The most unusual feature of Yeerk parasitism is that they are capable of infesting a wide variety of species in contrast to all other known parasites. The reason for this is unknown, but it is believed to rely on Z-space constructs in the same way as thought-speech. These serve as an interface between the physiology of the controller and the host.

(Note that most of galactic civilization has the same basic physiology with regard to amino acids and sugars, allowing them to live in the same environments without environmental suits or food replicators. This is speculated to be the result of deliberate seeding of life almost a billion years ago, corroborated by fossil evidence and phylogenetic comparison. Angiosperms, fungi and arthropods, for example, are found on many worlds.)

**Diet**

Yeerks derive all of their energy through photosynthesis of Kandrona radiation. Animals are normally unable to derive sufficient energy from photosynthesis, but this is practical for yeerks because of their small size and ectothermic metabolism. This is a relatively recent development in their evolution: ancestral yeerks were heterotrophic and consumed plankton.

Yeerks absorb raw carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous and sulfur directly from their pools through osmosis nodes scattered across their bodies. These elements are then assembled into biological molecules and macromolecules. Yeerks are extremely temperamental and require carefully calibrated polarity of Kandrona, circadian cycles and nutrient solutions to avoid illness or death. Only vissers and the most gifted engineers will have personal pools due to the expenses.

Without a source of Kandrona, yeerks will starve to death over a few days. They may uptake compatible carbohydrates from solution, but this causes pallor due to lack of photosynthesis. Without an expensive food replicator, the only source of such carbohydrates is by drying and powdering the bodies of other yeerks.

**Addiction**

While yeerks are normally incapable of digesting macromolecules not found in their own physiology, certain macromolecules found in terrestrial maple and ginger plants are uniquely compatible with their physiology.

Soloton, gingerol, zingerone and shogaol are natural hydroxyls found in maple and ginger extract, respectively. These are chemically similar to alcohol and easily pass through the blood-brain barrier. When absorbed by controllers through their hosts’ brains, these act as addictive narcotics. This high is felt because these chemicals act as hormones which induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in the controller’s synapses.

The deterioration of yeerk synapses, through pathways that are not fully understood, induces an atavistic reversion their ancestral life style. They begin producing proteolytic enzymes similarly to carnivorous plants. Controllers intake and digest the cerebrospinal fluid of their hosts, losing their dependence on photosynthesis.

The condition is progressive and terminal, but treatable in the early stages. Symptoms include cerebral atrophy, insensitivity to vermifuges (chemicals that induce evacuation from host), loss of chloroplasts, loss of motor function, persistent vegetative state, psychosis, et al. A host that has passed the terminal stage will suffer permanent mental illness due to the living yeerk cells fused to their brain, but this condition is treatable with psychotropic drugs.

As the progression advances most controllers will become physically unable to exit the host. This makes treatment far more difficult: surgically removing a controller is among the most difficult and risky medical procedures known to xenomedicine.

**Evolution**

Yeerks are ill-suited to a parasitic lifestyle. Unlike all other known endoparasites, they cannot feed or reproduce within a host. Xenobiologists speculated they developed parasitism in response to an environmental cataclysm in the recent past.

Millions of years ago, their homeworld was likely covered in swamps. At that time, the Yeerk were probably filter feeders that adhered to large aquatic animals in order to travel to new feeding and breeding grounds. At some point, the swamps began drying up and the yeerks were restricted in their access to food and mates.

Yeerks developed photosynthesis in response to the scarcity of food, like the terrestrial golden jellyfish (genus Mastigias). When their aquatic hosts began dying off, the Yeerks began attaching to land animals like the Gedd in order to reach other pools and breed. Since they were in danger of drying out, the Yeerks infiltrated the mucus membranes. At some point they began integrating with the brains of the Gedd and developed the ability to control them.  
  
**Reproductive method**

Yeerks are triploid and isogamous: any three individuals may reproduce. Like terrestrial fungi, they do not produce gametes: reproduction involves the prospective parents fusing and then fissioning into hundreds of larvae. Rarely, a larva will undergo a further division into a set of identical siblings.

Like terrestrial angiosperms, yeerks display a number of self-incompatibility (SI) genes that prevent closely related yeerks from breeding. This forces yeerks to travel to other pools in order to reproduce, thereby avoiding the deleterious consequences of inbreeding.

 


	4. Taxxon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Species: Omnivoracious sapiens, "Taxxon"  
> Subject: physical characteristics, reproductive method, home world, social characteristics

**Physical characteristics  
** Taxxons are megarthropods resembling terrestrial centipedes, velvet worms and lobsters. Unlike terrestrial arthropods, they possess functioning gills and book lungs allowing them to grow their immense sizes. They support their bodies with a chitinous exoskeleton; rather than molting, specialized cells deconstruct and reconstruct the chitin as a taxxon grows similarly to vertebrate endoskeletons. While lacking opposable thumbs, they are more than capable of performing fine manipulation using their numerous claws.

The taxxon’s head is their most interesting feature. At the anterior are four flower-like jaws lined with multiple rows of teeth that are routinely shed and regrown. The Taxxon tongue is massive thing used for smelling their environment similar to terrestrial snakes. The mouth is ringed with four rotable eyestalks, one lining up with each jaw, that are able to provide the taxxon with 360° vision under perfect conditions. The taxxon brain is a donut-shaped organ wrapped around the esophagus, similarly to terrestrial cephalopods.

 **Reproductive method  
** Taxxons lack any apparent reproductive system as far as autopsies have been able to determine. They are produced by a poorly understood organism known as the “Living Hive,” which is only found on their homeworld. These offspring are born as adults with all the knowledge they need to survive.

 **Home world  
** Taxx is a desert world seemingly devoid of life. In the distant past it was a verdant world covered in oceans, but a mysterious cataclysm turned it into a desert. The evolutionary pressure of this event is believed responsible for the Taxxon’s insane hunger and fear of starvation. Despite its lifeless appearance, underneath the surface exists an unimaginably vast and poorly understood organism known only as the Living Hive. All biomass on Taxx is concentrated within the Living Hive: it is producer and decomposer, and it alone is responsible for reproducing and feeding the Taxxon population.

 **Social characteristics  
** Taxxons do not appear to have any kind of culture despite their intelligence and language. They do not tell stories, they do produce art, and they do not use tools. In their natural state they spend all of their time burrowing, eating, sleeping, and praising the Living Hive. However, they excel at observational learning and prove more than capable of becoming skilled technicians when given the chance.

During the Yeerk occupation, yeerks did not look forward to taking Taxxons as hosts. Their thoughts and feelings were terrifying to experience and impossible to control. Additionally, Taxxons could not reproduce and had to be transported from Taxx. The only reason that Yeerks worked with them was because Taxxons would happily offer themselves as laborers, much less hosts, in exchange for food. As such, Taxxons could work continuously and did not need to be restrained while their Controller was feeding. This reliance on Taxxons would prove instrumental in the Yeerk Empire’s downfall after the Second Taxxon Rebellion overthrew the occupation and removed their ability to acquire more Taxxons.

 **The Living Hive  
** By the far the most fascinating and terrifying aspect of the Taxxon race is the existence of, and their relationship with, the Living Hive. This organism is also known as "Mother and Father of the Taxxons" and "Light of the Taxxons."

The Living Hive consists of thousands of biological mounds or nodes scattered across Taxx, connected by a network of biological tunnels, which provide food and shelter to billions upon billions of Taxxons. The nodes themselves are the size of small mountains and crisscrossed with cavities and orifices, vaguely similar to terrestrial sponges. Nodes function as gigantic brains that coordinate all Taxxons within their sphere of influence. The Living Hive’s intelligence is decentralized, so killing nodes does no harm to it as a whole. For all intents and purposes, it _is_ Taxx.

The origin of the Living Hive is unknown, though the subject of intense speculation, but its motivation is surprisingly simple: it desires nothing more than to protect and nourish the Taxxon race. Despite its simple purpose, the Living Hive is as intelligent and cunning as it is vast. An extremely frugal thing, it does not take kindly to any attempts to remove biomass (i.e. Taxxons) from the planet. After being informed of the principles behind Yeerk technology by “the Stranger from the Stars” (a reference to the deceased Andalite war hero Arbron), it needed only a handful of years to manufacture a massive armada to expel the Empire’s presence from Taxx. When the Yeerks crushed the so-called Taxxon Rebellion by killing what they thought was the Hive, they actually killed a node that was sacrificed specifically to keep them distracted while it built the technological infrastructure needed to manufacture its armada. Mercifully for the rest of the universe, the Hive has no intentions of expanding beyond Taxx or interacting with other species.


	5. Skrit Na

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Species: Reticulan sapiens, "Skrit Na"  
> Subject: physical characteristics, reproductive method, home world, social characteristics

**Physical characteristics  
** The Skrit Na come in two morphs depending on their maturation: the juvenile Skrit and the adult Na. The Skrit are megarthropods with seven pairs of limbs ending in dextrous pincers, three pairs of antennae, three pairs of whiskers, a pair of compound eyes dominating their head, and a pair of anterior cerci. Overall, Skrit loosely resemble a cross between a terrestrial cockroach and centipede. The Na are humanoids with triangular, disportionately large heads, large black eyes and featureless grey skin, resembling the Roswell Greys of terrestrial folklore. Na are equally comfortable moving bipedal or quadrupedal.

 **Reproductive method  
** Na reproduce sexually, laying numerous eggs that hatch into Skrit. The Skrit molt many times throughout their lives before reaching their final instar. Instead of molting, the final instar produces silk and weaves a cocoon around itself. Approximately one solar year later, the cocoon hatches into a Na.

How their species evolved such dramatically different life stages is a matter of much speculation. It is believed, based on fossil evidence, that the Skrit and the Na were originally two separate species. The primordial Na laid eggs inside the Skrit, which hatched into infant Na that consumed their Skrit host until they could fend for themselves. At some point, presumably as a result of some extinct virus or deliberate alteration, the Na started laying eggs that hatched into Skrit that were born pregnant with Na.

 **Home world  
** The Skrit Na hail from the mysterious planet Skrit Naaru. As most other species find the Skrit Na distastefully strange and corrupt, few outsiders have ever explored the planet and their stories are often wildly contradictory.

 **Social characteristics  
** The Skrit Na share little of their culture with outsiders, but they are infamous for their habit of collecting anything that is not already owned by another space-faring civilization. They never seem to trade and they do not respect any foreign laws or customs that are not backed by lethal force. Their saucer-shaped vessels constantly travel known space to visit planets inhabited by pre-spaceflight civilizations, where they mutilate domestic animals and abduct the locals. The abductees may be subjected to bizarre and seemingly pointless medical experiments, kept aboard for random periods of time before being returned miles from where they were abducted, or taken back to Skrit Naaru to be placed within a zoo.

Because the Skrit unpredictably and uncontrollably molt and pupate, the Skrit Na as a whole are considered unsuitable for hosting Yeerks. When the Yeerk Empire was still a functional state, they allowed the Skrit Na saucers free passage across their space.


End file.
